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Sunday, July 8, 2012

Bullpen and Back to Back Homers Propel Reds Past Padres, 4-2

The Reds (46-38) wrapped up the first half of the season by getting their third win in a four game series against the San Diego Padres (34-52). The Reds finish up going 6-5 on their West Coast Trip. And every Redlegs fan knows that the West Coast is usually a gauntlet for the Reds, and things usually end pretty badly. But the Reds kept it above .500 on the back of back-to-back home runs from Jay Bruce and Ryan Ludwick in the 4th inning and strong pitching.

Johnny Cueto had a good, but un-Cuetolike outing, pitching 5.2 innings giving up 7 Hits, 2 Runs, 5 strikeouts 2 BB and hitting 2 batters, getting his 10th win and improves to 10-5. The bullpen were also back to their old form,with Sam LeCure, Sean Marshall and Aroldis Chapman refusing to give up a run. Cueto was one batter away from stretching the Reds streat of consecutive quality starts to 11.The Good
- Zack Cozart and Brandon Phillips both had multiple-hit games. Cozart racked up a pair, including a double. Phillips had 3 base hits, including an RBI single.
- Jay Bruce hit a two run homer, followed by a Ryan Ludwick solo blast to score 3 in the fourth inni
- Drew Stubbs showed his speed by hitting a triple late in the game, but was unable to score.
- LeCure, Marshall and Chapman pitched 3 combined innings of relief, giving up no runs and having 5 strikeouts and no walks.

The Bad
- The Reds as a whole were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position and left 28 on base.
- Scott Rolen looks like he can't quite get the bat around on the ball anymore. He went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He did manage to reach base on a Hit by Pitch. He was hitting .184 before the game today. His batting average is now .178.
- Despite his triple, Drew Stubbs had 3 strikeouts today. Although he's broken his streak of failing to reach base, he is still struggling and not hitting when he needs to.
- Before the game there were rumblings all over Reds affiliated websites. Baker decided to play Stubbs and Rolen over Heisey and Frazier.

The Notables
- Gametime weather was 68 degrees and sunny. Perfect for some baseball.
- 24,032 showed up to watch today's game.
- It was U.S. Marine Corp Appreciation Day today at Petco. Padres wore their camoiflage uniforms
- Today was the last game before the All-Star Break! The Reds will return to action on Friday July 13th at 7:10 PM EST. The Reds will take on division rival Cardinals at Great American Ballpark. Mat Latos (7-2 4.13 ERA) is set to take on Adam Wainwright (7-8 4.56 ERA)
- Although there's no Reds action until Friday, you can see Jay Bruce, Aroldis Chapman and Joey Votto will be in action on Tuesday at the 2012 MLB All-Star Game. The game begins at 8 pm EST.